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Virtual Choir

Today’s conversation was about music – music in nature and music in cyberspace or virtual music.

We talked about different types of musical instruments and different types of music.

Then we talked about feelings and emotions related to music.

When do we listen to music? Why do we listen to music? What types of music do we like?

We discussed the sounds we hear in nature – like the wind, waves crashing, certain insects and birds singing. Rain falling , waterfalls, thunder, leaves rustling on trees. We all agreed that there is music in nature. We watched this video about how musicians use nature sounds in their work.

In this video about midway through, there is a demonstration of a beating or drumming sound that has a great beat. It turns out to be the sound of a tree, which has been dried out and is now getting some water up its trunk and branches. Pretty cool! So sounds in nature are all around us.

Next we talked about virtual music, which is basically music created and produced by computers. It has become more and more popular and you can check out some virtual instruments here. Anyone can play these instruments and you don’t have to leave your home or buy any of the instruments.

Virtual music provides access to anyone who is interested and connects people with a shared interest in music. It’s available anytime, and all the time.

It is considered a new art form producing a new type of artistic and audience experience. The traditional music performance is transformed!

Eric Whitacre, who is a composer and conductor, has a project called the Virtual Choir, which he stared in 2009. It is a global choir that joins singers from around the world who share their love of music using technology. Singers upload their videos and then they are aggregated into a beautiful and magical choral creation. Watch this video as Eric Whitacre explains his project, with great passion and emotion.

After watching we discussed Eric’s project and what we as viewers felt about it. One important aspect, along with the creation of the music, was the sense of connection and community, or as Eric put it, even he felt an “esprit de corps” , a sense of pride, fellowship and common loyalty shared by members of a group.

Eric’s latest work is Virtual Choir 4 , Fly To Paradise” , which has 8,409 videos featuring 5,905 singers from 101 countries. Relax, sit back and enjoy it here:

We all agreed that this is a very exciting production and the images of the singers and animation are great. The music is engaging and some of us felt like we were flying! For more information about the Virtual Choir and more videos go to the website where you can even sign up to sing in the next Virtual Choir performance!